Kane Robinson's experiences trail hiking came as part of his involvement in the Code 9 foundation - a charity supporting emergency service workers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

He said the foundation's aim was to ensure "no first responder felt alone, ever" - a motto he also brings to his new role in the south-west.

Inspector Robinson plans to promote a healthy work culture and build on a system that relieves the stress of members when necessary.

"I want our members to feel comfortable speaking up when times are tough," he said. "In 23 years, I haven't had many days where I haven't wanted to go to work and I figure it's up to me to provide that same environment."

Inspector Robinson said he hoped to see south-west members utilise the Code 9 foundation which his close friend and fellow policeman Mark Thomas started following his own battle with PTSD.

Sergeant Thomas was hit hard by a suicide he attended as part of his policing duties in 2003. He was diagnosed with PTSD a decade later.

Inspector Robinson said Code 9 was a radio term used when police required urgent assistance. He said the foundation provided peer support to all first responders, including Triple-0 call takers, and helped fund assistance dogs, retreats and proactive activities such as surfing.

Inspector Robinson's involvement in Code 9 has also seen him take on the Annapurna Circuit in central Nepal.

"(Sergeant Thomas) was in Nepal when he first started to notice his mental illness and he never finished that circuit and I told him if he ever wanted to complete it, to give me a bell," he said.

"One day he asked if I wanted to go for a walk and I said 'yeah, where? the Tan Track? The beach?' and he said 'nah, we're going to Nepal'."

About three months before they left, Inspector Robinson chipped two bones and snapped all the ligaments in his ankle playing over 35s basketball.

"My surgeon wanted to operate and said 'you can't trek in Nepal' and I said 'yes I can'," he said.

He did physiotherapy every second day and was in a Moon Boot for eight weeks, taking it off just a week before he and Sergeant Thomas departed for their 11-day trek.

"I iced my foot in the rivers that came down from glaciers," he said.

The circuit took them 5416 metres above sea level - slightly higher than Mt Everest base camp.

Code 9 and Melbourne's Resilience Builders then took 10 people with a history of mental illness to the Overland Track in Tasmania.

They trekked through chest-deep snow and at one point Inspector Robinson submerged himself neck-down in the three-degrees waters of Lake Windermere.

"It was a very inspiring trip," he said.

Inspector Robinson was a navy firefighter for about seven years before joining the police force in 2000.

He has predominantly been stationed in south-eastern Melbourne with stints in the CBD and as senior sergeant of the monitoring assessment centre, which provides real-time intelligence based around social media and CCTV.

Inspector Robinson said he had largely remained in uniform policing to be around for his wife and two daughters. He arrived in the south-west on January 2.

He said a career highlight was being named a finalist in the Australasian Council of Women and Policing Champion of Change Award, which recognises the significant role men play in improving law enforcement for women.

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